In cosmetics applications, there is a need for materials that can give the skin a smooth appearance by hiding or blurring the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, while reducing any color irregularities due to hyper- or hypo-pigmentation. The described effect is known as “soft-focus.” There are a number of pigment and filler types, as well as cosmetic formulations, that claim to impart soft-focus properties, including materials such as boron nitride and elastomeric silicone particles, among others. Generally, a blend of pigments is used, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,511,672, and 7,709,013.
Layered pigments have been suggested for us as soft-focus pigments in certain applications (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,320,834; 6,511,536; 6,511,672; US 2005/0220739; US 2008/0219940; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,709,013). The layered pigments are composed of a smooth, platelet-shaped or spherical substrate that is coated with one or more layers of a metal oxide. These pigments can have a large amount of diffuse light transmission. A significant drawback of layered platelet-shaped pigments is that they make the skin appear glossy, making wrinkles and blemishes more prevalent instead of blurred. A major drawback of multilayer spherical pigments is that they are difficult to make at a high yield, therefore limiting them to high value, expensive applications.
Many of the pigments used to impart soft-focus are made by lengthy and difficult manufacturing procedures, causing the price to be high. This limits their application to high-end specialty facial creams and lotions and does not enable them to be used in mass-market products like body lotions. Therefore, there is a need in the personal care industry for a soft-focus pigment system that can be used to impart soft-focus in body lotions.